


The Star God's Altar: Valley of Departure: Depot

by moody_trans_detective



Series: Rogueass Galaxy [16]
Category: Rogue Galaxy
Genre: Drama, F/F, makeout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27664166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moody_trans_detective/pseuds/moody_trans_detective
Summary: Lilika goes to the Valley of Departure to think about peace and Kisala finds her there.
Relationships: Lilika Rhyza/Kisala (Rogue Galaxy)
Series: Rogueass Galaxy [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956043
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	The Star God's Altar: Valley of Departure: Depot

Lilika would come here sometimes to clear her mind. Few people went to the Valley of Departure, despite it being close to the village. Some thought it haunted, or cursed, but Lilika had never gotten the sense it was, and she was good at noticing those sorts of things. Ever since her mother had died she’d been more sensitive to spirits and the dead. No, this place wasn’t haunted. It was simply uncomfortable.

This place dated from the other ruins and was once a spaceport. She knew no one now who wished to mention in the past they’d at least had contact with other spacefaring people, but at some point her people had closed themselves off to the sky and the galaxy beyond. She couldn’t blame them. The vastness of it all…

Selecting a particularly mossy stretch of old stone, Lilika sat and breathed deep of the cool night air, allowing it to refresh and invigorate her. It had been a long day, yet it didn’t feel over. She needed some peace, but even here in the Valley of Departure, so silent and empty, it was difficult to find. She closed her eyes and tried to connect to the emptiness around her, then, when that didn’t work, gazed up at the stars dotting the darkened heavens.

A bad feeling knotted in her stomach. The galaxy was so beautiful. She was so alone, would be even more alone after Miri…Lilika clenched her teeth. She was trying to be at peace with this. She needed to be at peace with this. This wasn’t like losing her mother. This had purpose, this had to have purpose.

Still, she’d come here, to the Valley of Departure, not just as a way to connect with loss, with saying good-bye. She came because it represented new beginnings, spaceflight. Because this next set of newcomers intrigued her in a way she hadn’t felt in years. There had always been ships crashing in the swamp. But something about these people, their determination, the woman’s bravery, moved her. What was life like among the stars? Would she go if she could, would she want to experience something so different? The woman Kisala, would she show Lilika the best places of the galaxy?

No, there she was going again. Sometimes Lilika’s thoughts ran off to a particular woman. She wasn’t embarrassed about it—she’d acted on it a few times, and since men never interested her, why not? But she knew outsider women were very rarely flattered by a well trained warrior taking interest in them. Her status was often lost on them, and she had to work harder to get them interested.

Another reason why her eyes drifted to the stars. She was running out of options in Burkaqua Village.

She was about to chide herself for thinking of her own desires when her sister was going through such a trial, but a presence behind her made her reach for her bow. She whirled, kneeling with one foot planted firmly on the ground, and found Kisala at the end of her sight.

“It’s just me,” said Kisala, putting her hands up, palms out. “Wow, you’re so smooth and fast with that.”

“A warrior has years of practice,” said Lilika, enjoying the admiration. She stood down, about to get to her feet.

“I don’t mean to disturb you,” said Kisala, approaching. She seemed almost shy, unable to meet Lilika’s eye. “Actually, I—I was hoping you’d let me sit with you a while. I just…couldn’t sleep yet.”

“It must be difficult to sleep, with those men about.” Lilika understood, and she welcomed Kisala’s presence. She liked Kisala—it was rare for another person to impress her, and Kisala had. A warrior in her own way, Lilika finally felt like she’d found an equal in Kisala, and it made her head buzz like it was full of king bees. She patted the ground as close to her as she could to invite Kisala to a place beside her. She felt her heart skip when the woman took the hint and settled in next to her, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

“Yeah. Zegram’s a creep. And Jaster…I guess he’s all right. But he’s not always that smart, and I don’t want him thinking…I was hoping you might know somewhere else I could stay the night.”

“This is the only traveler’s hut we have in the entire village.”

“But where do you sleep?” asked Kisala.

Lilika couldn’t believe her fortune. Kisala must be interested to be so forward—mustn’t she? Sometimes off-worlders behaved strangely, not in line with what they meant. Lilika had to figure out what Kisala was really saying, or if she would be open to Lilika’s advances if she hadn’t considered them yet.

“Are you asking to share my hut?”

Kisala flushed visibly, even in the night. She hugged her knees tighter.

“Well, I…When you say it like that…”

Lilika reached out, touched her shoulder.

“I am not offended. I like the idea.”

“I have this weird feeling around you. The way you risked yourself to help me earlier, how you handled the Mud Whooper. You’re so confident and stunning and…”

Lilika decided to be bold with her. She would normally wait for some kind of verbal confirmation a woman was truly interested—many times she had to ask directly since it could be difficult to tell—but Kisala had to be more than just complimenting her, and since she’d be leaving once she had the booster oil she came for…Lilika leaned in as though to kiss her, just to see what Kisala would do.

She titled her head up and met Lilika’s lips. Lilika felt the rush, sweet, from the press of her lips, and she grabbed Kisala’s shoulders, pulling her nearer. Kisala trailed the back of her fingertips down Lilika’s cheek, closed her eyes as she kissed. It was beautiful, it was wonderful, it was a perfect confirmation of Lilika’s suspicions and indulgence in her own desires. She was kissing a lovely fighter from some far-off place underneath a clear sky full of stars and the feel of the ages in the air around them.

Departure, Lilika felt, held many meanings. It had been a good decision to come here to think.

She lost track of how long they spent appreciating each other, lost in how perfectly Kisala kissed, the feel of her beneath Lilika’s hands. Finally, though, Kisala pulled away.

“Wow,” she breathed.

Lilika could tell she was Kisala’s first woman. She smiled. When she reached up to run her fingers through Kisala’s hair, she wasn’t stopped.

“You’re a fine warrior too,” she said, watching Kisala glance away, shy. “I so rarely meet one who is my equal. And your unorthodox weapons…I like them. We’d be very powerful together.”

“I agree.” Kisala’s eyes flicked back, met Lilika’s with a sudden intensity. “Which is why I think we should free Miri.”

Lilika withdrew her hand immediately. Betrayal washed over her, and dismay. She’d thought she could trust Kisala.

“Please. Together we couldn’t be stopped. Do you want her to die?”

“Of course I don’t wish to lose my sister! I have lost so much already.” Lilika thought of her mother. She thought of how unfair it was Kisala assumed she didn’t love her sister because there were things that needed to be done. “You don’t understand—this has to happen.”

“But why? There must be some other way.” Kisala got to her feet, started pacing. “We have to _do_ something.”

“Can you not meddle? This has nothing to do with you.” Lilika stood as well, hurt increasing. She wanted Kisala to be someone she respected, not someone who questioned her loyalty or tried to go against her people.

“I care. Why don’t you?”

Lilika gestured back toward the village, back toward where Kisala’s companions slept unaware.

“You are only here for your disgusting oil,” she said, voice rising in anger. “You come here to seduce me and tell me what to do, and then you insult me when I don’t see things your way! How can one so beautiful be as poisonous as the dark fruit?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Kisala shouted back. “I thought you’d be different. You’d understand. You’re just like Jaster—he told me to stay out of it too. How can you all be so heartless?”

Lilika digested this new information with the intensifying pain at Kisala’s inability to understand. So the young leader of their small group actually respected Juraikan legitimacy. This was a point in his favor. Though she would have preferred Kisala to be the one to understand, the one to stand up for Lilika.

“Perhaps it is you who is heartless, if you cannot give me or my people any respect.”

“This isn’t about respect,” said Kisala. “It’s about Miri.”

“It’s about so much more than Miri.”

“That’s not what it looks like to me.”

“Stop!” Lilika couldn’t handle this. A few minutes ago she’d wanted to take this woman to her bed, and now she wished Kisala was back on her ship and planets away. “I will not listen to this. You will not turn me against myself, who I am.”

“Lilika,” said Kisala, voice a mumble. “Please. We can’t let this happen. You don’t want her to die.”

She reached out a hand and slipped it in Lilika’s, touch so warm and gentle it made Lilika wild. But she couldn’t do this. She yanked her hand away.

“Go,” she said. “Find another person’s bed to share tonight.” But Kisala didn’t move. “I can’t bear to see you.”

Lilika brushed past her. If Kisala wouldn’t leave, then Lilika would. She would go back home and try to sleep, try not to think about the future or her feelings or her frustrations. She expected Kisala to say something, but she was silent as Lilika left the Valley of Departure.


End file.
